


Misspelled names

by sensiblekitty



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, Not Beta Read, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-12 23:30:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7128377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sensiblekitty/pseuds/sensiblekitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by the following prompt (from dailyau): "I’m a barista and you’re the obnoxious customer who comes through and orders a venti macchiato while talking on the phone the whole time so I misspell your name in increasingly creative ways every day AU". In this fic, James is the barista and Toni is the customer, which means the story is told from James' POV. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misspelled names

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Euonty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Euonty/gifts).



> Here is the oneshot, Euonty! :D I hope you like it, despite the text not being edited (maybe I'll edit later...or rewrite it). <3

Every day, it is the same thing at work. There is a customer who shows up early on the morning and orders the same venti macchiato with little sugar and no caramel. Always speaking on the phone with a big frown on his forehead, he never once has made eye contact since he started coming to the café; thus, I would say that what I know about him bases mainly on observation than interaction.

The impression he leaves is that he is an influent person at some big company. Sadly, his supposed influence means nothing to me while he exudes obnoxiousness in his full-of-himself attitude and lack of education. I mean, greeting an attendant and thanking for their services is the least good manner we expect from the customers, something that he doesn’t even do, as he is always with that freaking phone on his hands. Ugly posture, indeed. 

I wouldn’t say, however, that he has an ugly feature. Much on the opposite, he owns a handsome figure. Tall height, blonde hair, blue eyes, strong jaw line and the serious countenance. Everything in his appearance gives a vibe of a foreigner, summed with the accent in a few words that he exchanges with me and in the parts of conversation that I nonchalantly overhear.

For instance, sometimes, he tells off the person on the other side of the line in English; other times, he tries some awkward Spanish, whose pronounce is not so bad, but not so good either. In the great majority of the time, he speaks in a language that resembles German. If only he wasn’t obnoxious, I would set my eyes on him; however, he annoys me, so it wouldn’t work out.

He has upset me since our first meeting, when I accidentally misspelled his surname, because of a mishearing.

_“Kros”_ I wrote in the cup, before filling it with the macchiato and giving it to the customer.

I saw when he stopped talking on the phone with narrowed eyes after reading his surname.

“It has a double o, fix it,” he told me, eyes still narrowed at the cup, before giving it back to me and returning to his call.

As a way of fixing, I wrote the lacking letter over the letter “s”, followed by a new letter “s” and returned the cup to him, only to gain a reproaching headshaking from him.

“Today, I’ll let it pass, but next time I’ll request a new cup if you misspell my name again,” he took the macchiato and left in a rush. The dude hasn’t waited for my response, but if he did, he would have heard that I wished he didn’t ever return to the café.

To my dismay, in the following days, he has come practically at the same hour and I happened to be the one to attend him.

“Are you stupid? I told you my surname is spelled as “Kroos”, can’t you even remember this?” He complained, when he read “Croos” on his macchiato.

“I apologize for mistaking your name, sir; however, allow me to emphasize something. I attend hundreds, thousands of customers every day, so that means I have hundreds, thousands of names to write; thus, there is a remote possibility that I could memorize your name.”

Throwing the cup in front of me, he ignored explanation, pointing to the handwritten name. "I demand you to prepare another order for me now, with my name written correctly there."

I, of course, didn’t do that, writing a “k” over the “c”.

“This will do. It is not in the shop's policy to prepare another order for a customer because of a misspelled name. I hope you accept my apologies for my mistake though.”

“Hunf, I don’t have another choice, do I? Thanks to you, I’m late for work,” he darted, dashing through the entrance door in the following minute.

‘Nobody has obliged you to come here. If you aren’t satisfied, then don’t come back’ was what I wanted to reply, but the annoying man left before I opened my mouth to say.

From that day onwards, I have found my new source of amusement: misspell his name on purpose just to annoy him. My aim was to get on his nerves, so I would put down that arrogant attitude of his. In order to do so, I came up with the weirdest names: “Crooz”, “Krooz”, “Kroz”, “Closs” etc. The funniest part is that he continued coming, despite the misspelled names. We couldn’t avoid each other even though my inner desire was to stay away from him and his inflated ego.

“You have already used this name,” he pointed one day. “Geez, when will you learn that it is “Kroos? K-R-O-O-S.”

More amusing than the fact that so far, he hasn't complained, was the discovering he remembered the misspelled names. “Uh, sorry,” I replied, pressing my lips with a frown and looking away. 

“You did on purpose, you perverse being!”

Shit. I got caught out. “What are you talking about? Your name is difficult to spell.”

“A five letter-name is difficult to spell? Find another excuse. You won't convince anyone with this weak argument. Unless, of course, you are too stupid to remember. If so, there is nothing that we can do to fix it.”

What did he say? How dare he insult me?

“Watch your mouth, you obnoxious dude. Don't think that because you're rich that you have the right to step on others.”

I expected him to complain with the manager. I expected him to slam on the table and leave the café. I expected any kind of rage. I just didn’t expect to leave him speechless.

“Wow, that was intense,” he said, staring at me mouth opened. It was the first time we made eye contact for more than one second. I wasn't sure on whether his words meant a compliment or a sarcastic remark though.

“I mean, I am sorry for my words," I apologized, bowing my head down with shame, as I wasn't supposed to argue with a customer. 

“Nah, I don’t mind, as long as you admit that you have been doing this on purpose.”

I raised my head, looking at him. I spotted his gaze at me, lips tight-closed forming a smile. “And supposed that I did, what are you going to do: complain with my boss, blackmail me and get me fired from my job?”

“Relax. I won’t do any of these things, as I don’t have time right now," the blonde man drifted his look away and in the watch that rested on his wrist. "I have to rush to work, but we are not done yet. See you tomorrow.”

What would he be capable of doing was the question that bothered my mind during the whole day that day. Would he sue me? If so, then, I was screwed. 

In the next day, he followed up to his words and returned to the café. 

“Morning,” he greeted me, the same neutral countenance as always.

“Morning, Mr. Kroos. Venti macchiato, little sugar and caramel?” I asked, trying to sound as natural as possible. 

“Yes,” he nodded, and when he saw me take the pen to write his name, he placed his hand on mine. “Wait. Instead of Kroos, write Toni.” He looked at me with a smile.

“Sure," I nodded, taken aback by his action. "So, today, the macchiato is for someone else.”

“No, it is still for myself. My name is Toni.”

I raised an eyebrow. So, that means that during all this time, the "complicated" name turned out to be his surname, as I suspected several times, while his name was an easy one to remember.

_"Tony”_ I wrote the said name in the cup and gave him with my brightest and most cordial smile. I just made a resolution not to upset the blonde man, as his intentions remained unclear and I couldn't risk losing my job.

I expected him to smile back this time, but the man just shook his head and sighed. 

"I should have guessed that you would misspell my name."

"What did I do wrong this time?"

"It wasn't your fault, but mine. I forgot to tell you that it ends with "i" instead of "y"."

I bowed my head down. What a complicated man with complicated name spelling.

“You should have told me before," I said, picking a new cup. "I am sorry, I swear it wasn’t on purpose this time.”

"Calm down, sweetie. I am not the kind of fancy business with a cold heart that you suppose me to be."

"Why would I think otherwise, if we just made eye contact for the first time yesterday?"

"Pff. You sure have some nerves." Mr. Kroos bursted in a laughter, the round of his eyes crinkling and the corners of his lips turning into a wide smile. A genuine and stunning one, capable of increasing his handsomeness, if that was even possible. "Sorry for that. These weeks have been chaotic to me. Staff management, papers to sign, contracts to finish. Fortunately, everything is settled and I can breathe now."

"I am also sorry about misspelling your name several times," I gave a constrained smile, awkwardness reminding me of my silliness. The mischievous behavior of him was just a misunderstanding, a prejudice coming from my side. "I kinda did so to annoy you."

"Well, it was quite disrespectful; you did managed to annoy me, something rare to happen, but it was also entertaining."

I frowned. This scenario was nothing from what I imagined in my head. "I don't get it. You should be mad at me."

"I'm saying that your misspelling helped me relax from the stress of work. So, thank you," Mr Kroos said, for the first time looking straight into my eyes with that dazzling smile. 

"Wow, you're actually a nice person. I’m feeling quite bad on inside now."

"Hey, cut it out, erm...what is your name? I'm sorry; I should have you asked before."

"James." I grinned, pointing at the ID badge that rested on my uniform. That was the first time he asked my name. 

"As I said, James, I'm not the devil you supposed me to be."

"No, you are not, but you did looked like an annoying egocentric devil in disguise of a businessman," I replied, snorting at his comment. "Will you keep coming here?"

"Every early morning, as long as it is you preparing the macchiato for me?"

Did I hear it right? Maybe it was an impression, or Mr. Kroos flirted with me just now? 

"Well, you don’t have another choice, since it's just me at this time of the day here." I didn't expect him to be this sympathetic to me; thus, I couldn't hide my amusement in the smile that formed around my lips when he said that. "I hope you have a nice day, Mr. Kroos." 

"You can call me by my name. Toni. Hopefully, when I come back tomorrow, you'll remember it," he said, taking the macchiato and winking at me before leaving. 

Always full of himself. As if I would give up on my daily amusement source. Although, more than enjoying myself seeing him frown at his misspelled names, it is to watch him smile. If I can get to see that beautiful smile of his every day from here on, then it'll be worth getting his name right. 

 


End file.
